Sunday, July 15, 2012

Because I live in a somewhat busy/noisy area, I decided that I needed a pair of headphones in order to enjoy my television viewing (without having to increase the volume every time it got noisy only to have to lower it when the noise went away). I wanted to purchase something wireless since I didn't want a cable going from my television set to wear I was sitting. What I wanted from my wireless headphones was something under $50 that would include all the necessary accessories in order to work out of the box almost immediately and for it obviously to have decent sound without any background distortion/humming noises coming from the headphones. I also wanted something that used standard rechargeable batteries.

When the Nexxtech Wave Wireless Digital Stereo Headphones went on sale for roughly half price, I decided to purchase it. I believe that this brand/unit is only being sold at The Source / La Source in Canada. The thing that I was a little worried about was that it wasn't what I would consider to be a name-brand device (or well known name brand device like Sony, JVC, etc.). Another thing that I was a little worried about was the store that had these headphones for sale (The Source / La Source) also had a policy against accepting returns for the headphone products due to hygienic reasons). I wondered whether this policy also applied to exchanges in case there was a problem with the unit and was told by the store employee that I could exchange it if it was defective with a similar product but would not be able to exchange it for a different product or return it for money (or store credit).

The unit comes with the wireless headphones, the transmitting recharge base unit, a 3.5 mm headphone plug to 2 RCA phono-type cable (Y cable), 2 rechargeable NiMH AAA batteries for the headphones, and a very simple instructional/usage paper. The transmitter accepts the standard red/white male RCA phono-type cables so you will need the included 3.5 mm headphone to phono-type cable in order to plug it into most computers, laptops, and headphone jacks. If you want to plug it into device like a satellite receiver or a Tivo/PVR, you will need to purchase the audio cables separately.

When I got home, I plugged the base unit into the back of my television set's headphone jack using the included cable and plugged this cable into the transmitter base. I then plugged in the base to the electrical outlet and put the rechargeable batteries into the headphones. I turned on the transmitter as well as the headphones and the headphones indicator showed that it was on and there seemed to be enough power for the unit to work. However, there was a very loud/annoying humming noise from the wireless headphones and the television volume coming into the headphones was very low. I raised the television volume control to the maximum and the television volume got a bit louder on the headphones but the loud humming background noise didn't go away. Worried that I had a defective unit, I read the instructional sheet and it mentioned that the unit should be fully charged for 24 hours before using it. Since I didn't have a spare set of AAA batteries that were fully charged, I left the headphones charging on the base unit and went to sleep. When I woke up ~8 hours later with the headphones charging on the base unit, the wireless headphones worked perfectly.

The headphones come with a volume control, an on/off switch (with LED), and a button to toggle to a different wireless band/frequency/channel in case there is interference. The base unit comes with an on/off switch that also functions to change the band/frequency/channel as well as an LED indicator showing whether the headphones are properly docked in order to charge. One thing that I didn't mention is that the base unit must be plugged into an AC outlet and does not have a battery compartment. This isn't a big problem for me but some people might have issues with this.

I"m not an audiophile so for me, I find the sound quality to be good for my purposes. I'm able to listen to my television without any noticeable distortion or background humming noises coming from the wireless headphones.

The only negative comment I have about the headphones but I've experienced this problem with all headphones that cover the entire ear is that I find that they make my ears warm (similar to earmuffs).

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